April Was A Lie
May is becoming the same, Missoula Didn’t Get The Memo
Let me just say it plainly: Missoula is a #shithole. One word. Self-explanatory.
Every day I go for a walk. Partly for health, partly to keep the calories honest, partly because after sixteen or seventeen hours of fasting and a morning that disappears entirely into work, getting outside around noon feels less like a choice and more like a biological necessity. It’s a good routine. I like it. Most days.
Today was not most days.
April in Missoula served up forty-degree temperatures, sustained wind, and snow. Actual snow. OK, that’s normal, but let me rant. In April. I turned into the gusts at one point and my eyelids went completely numb, just... stopped working. Couldn’t blink. Which means the wind had to be pushing thirty miles an hour at minimum, because human eyelids don’t just quit on you in a light breeze. That’s not how eyelids work.
Here’s what gets me: winter barely showed up when it was supposed to. Skipped most of its shift, honestly. And now it wants to come back in April and act like it owns the place? No. That’s not the deal. Spring had a reservation. Winter’s window closed.
I know Missoula sits in a river valley at nearly three thousand feet, surrounded by mountains that hold cold air like a grudge, so meteorologically speaking, none of this is surprising. But knowing why something is miserable doesn’t make it less miserable. It just makes you the well-informed person standing in the snow, unable to blink, feeling vaguely betrayed by geography.
May has done the same. When does it end? Don’t answer, let me rant. The walk happened anyway. It always does. And somewhere between the numbness and the wind and the muttering under my breath, I’ll keep going, which I suppose is the thing about a good routine.
May 16th and the Body Keeps Score
Twenty-three years of May 16th entries tell a recurring story: plans interrupted, bodies sidelined, and a stubborn habit of showing up anyway. From concussions to burger crimes to knee injuries, the date has a way of testing the gap between ambition and reality. What stays constant is someone who keeps coming back for more.
Read more: https://8i11.vercel.app/story/0419s22i